strange cat in NE oklahoma

I hope this is in the right forum, i did not know what they could have been talking about until i saw this creature myself.
i do believe that cryptozoology covers seeing a species in a totally unexpected habitat!

my dad has talked about this strange animal he has seen several times this summer at my his lake house in northeast oklahoma.

he described a short legged animal with silvery brown fur, about the size of large boar raccoon bigger than any housecat, even a maine coon, With a long thick furry tail, a head shaped like an otter or weasel and a long slender cylindrical but sturdy body, with a really long thick flattish tail.

I was thinking otter, or nutra, or a weirdly shaped mutant raccoon, an escaped capybara (giant south american guinea pig), or a coatamundi (those long nosed south american animals people try to keep as pets that are related to the raccoon).
None of which should be at the lake.

But really i had no idea what animal he would be seeing an totally unable to identify, he is knowledgable of animals and wildlife and not one to make weird conclusions at all. so i was totally perplexes

until i saw this creature this weekend.

jaguarundi
jaguarundi
seen from above like the original sighting

without a doubt it is a Jaguarundi. a bizzare looking cat from south and central america which is slowly migrating north into texas and florida.
We have seen one in southern oklahoma very near the texas border.


although there are houses in the area, they normally only occupied on the weekends during warm weather. There is also nearly 50 acres bordering my dads house, this is scrubby woodland, with large trees, little undergrowth and tons of food source in the way of fish, deer, rodents ect.
there is a lot of empty land all around the lake once you get past the immediate edge of the water.
There are also plentiful cougars in this area so big cats are not unheard of.

But what do you do if see an endangered species in an area that it is not expected to inhabit.
Do you notify the fish and wildlife dept?
Some other agency?
Do nothing and be glad there are some acres of safety for the creature?

Wow! That's very cool.

I have been told that the Jaguar did at one time roam into Oklahoma, so I don't see why little cousin doesn't.

I'll bet the Okla. Wildlife people will throw cold water on it. Like they have done with Mountain Lions and Florida Panthers.

Roper

Well, for sure there are some really strange cats in Oklahoma. I'm down in the southwest corner and last year I saw one that I swear to the saint of felines was a cross between something and something! It was as big as an african lion - WAY bigger than a bobcat and I'd go so far to say as big as the biggest puma I've seen on documentaries. It was colored up like a bobcat, but this sap sucker look to stand about 3 foot tall at its haunches* (see footnote). This was down by the Red River in the ranch lands of that area. I was headed to a farm house and when I got there I told the land owner, because the cat was coming on his property and he has cattle. He told me that a bizarro cat like that has been reported by other folks down there.

I have also seen panthers. Saw a pair (male and female) running together back in like 1990-1991. This was on highway 9 east of Norman and they were traveling south away from Thunderbird into the woods south of the highway. They were BIG!

There have been stories passed down for generations (I have heard my grandparents and my parents tell this) that in eastern Oklahoma there is supposed to be panthers that roam one of the major rivers (might be the Kiamichi, could be Blue river, just don't remember) and can be heard at night. They sound like a woman screaming.

Dealio is - and a lot people probably don't know this. Hugo, Oklahoma - down in southeastern Oklahoma - has been for probably at least a century - the winter headquarters of several circuses. And it has been claimed that releases have occurred (either intentionally or by accident) of circus animals. So no telling what kind of hybrid crap is running around down there.

I had never heard of jaguarundi...very interesting and thank you for sharing!

*Footnote: I got to see this cat twice. I was traveling down a gravel road looking for a farm house I'd never been to. The first time I saw the cat it came through the fence line, not running, just slowly walked out into the middle of the road and stood there. I got within 50 feet of it (slowing way down). Basically it was as big as a Great Dane. Because when I first saw it come through the fence, that's what I thought it was. As I approached, I realized it was a cat and then, of course, got real close and confirmed that. It wasn't scared of me and and my car. It let me get close and then just walked off through the east fence line. I went about half a mile south and realized that I had missed the house and turned around. And the cat did the same thing, walked back out of the fence line into the middle of the road and just stood there. I got about as close the second time as I did the first time and then it walked on to the west.

It had a long thick rope tail like an african lioness or a puma but it was mottled like a bobcat. I don't remember what it's ears were like. But I would think if they were distinctively bobcatish I would recall that so I tend to believe they were not.

[edit on 9-4-2007 by Valhall]

Southeast/Southcentral oklahoma is certainly home to a lot of interesting animals! Well really oklahoma in general, we have HUGE biodiversity

my husband is from sulphur...it is a national park with some strange activity animal wise!! But we have seen cougar tracks lots of time as well as some that looked too large to be even a cougar. As well as bear tracks and droppings neither are supposed to be living in that national park, officially. But they are certainly there along with other mysterious creatures
well i dropped an email to the Deptarment of fisheries and wildlife as well as to the GRDA conservation department which i believe is run by the Core of Engineers

At the very least maybe they will consider tightening hunting oversight and prosecution for both off season hunting and trespassing in the area.

Due to the acreage many locals seem to go hunting on the land even though it is in very close proximity to lots of houses. idiots just want the deer and dont care if they take out someone standing behind a window in
their homes!!!

I also will keep a much closer eye on the dogs, i worry that our Husky will see a Cat and think it is play time, (chase time) and end up getting hurt, he stays away from racoons but they are pretty aggressive and dont look like his Marley Kitty whom he loves.

We have a game cam put up near a deer feeder just for fun and i am considering moving it a little bit and baiting it with meat or tuna or fish or something and see if we cant get a picture or two of the Cat.

I was on a wave runner about 50 yards away when i spotted it coming out of its den and down to the water to drink, it was obviously not a kitty or a racoon so i had to investigate, i got within about 20 feet by drifting with the power off before i spooked it back to its den or hidey hole.

I am a bit confused about size though, some of the pictures make it look housecat sized, and others show a much larger medium sized cat, close to a ocelot in size, this one seemed fairly large, bigger than a maine coon even with the fluff and super sleek and muscular.

They are very cool cats, really they look like an otter/weasel hybrid, and if i hadnt have already seen one i would have had no clue what on earth it was.

Originally posted by Valhall

*Footnote: I got to see this cat twice. I was traveling down a gravel road looking for a farm house I'd never been to. The first time I saw the cat it came through the fence line, not running, just slowly walked out into the middle of the road and stood there. I got within 50 feet of it (slowing way down). Basically it was as big as a Great Dane. Because when I first saw it come through the fence, that's what I thought it was. As I approached, I realized it was a cat and then, of course, got real close and confirmed that. It wasn't scared of me and and my car. It let me get close and then just walked off through the east fence line. I went about half a mile south and realized that I had missed the house and turned around. And the cat did the same thing, walked back out of the fence line into the middle of the road and just stood there. I got about as close the second time as I did the first time and then it walked on to the west.

It had a long thick rope tail like an african lioness or a puma but it was mottled like a bobcat. I don't remember what it's ears were like. But I would think if they were distinctively bobcatish I would recall that so I tend to believe they were not.

[edit on 9-4-2007 by Valhall]

I thought you saw this. www.dnr.state.wi.us...

But they don't get as big as a Great Dane. These are not supposed to be here either but saw one in the back of a pickup years ago. What ever it was, I don't what to see it in a face to face meeting.

Roper

Roper

Nope, it wasn't that. It wasn't like anything I've ever seen in real life or documentaries. It had a slicker looking coat as well. The lynx is all fuzzy looking but it's hair laid more like a puma.

[edit on 9-4-2007 by Valhall]

Considering a good sized Great Dain would way up to 120 lbs, I'm going to say that what I saw weighed between 60-80 lbs...taking into account lankiness and smaller bone structure. But it did have a bigger bone structure than a bobcat - it had the larger bone structure like an african lioness.

could it have been a hybrid cat that had been released or escaped from one of those exotic wildlife places?

pumapard
spotted puma??

i know mountain lions can be enormous when grown, could this have been a juvenile that was slow to loose its spots?

Val..it is good to meet a fellow Oklahoman on here...Question..Wasnt there a Lion Counrty Safari down south off of I35 in the late 70's early 80's? There have alway been rumors around those, of when they closed, of releases. BTW hats off to the OP. Good find. I would at least pass it on to the Oklahoma wildlife people. They may already know about it, and it may help in conservation efforts.

Valhall, you practically drove right by my house. I've lived out here for 3 years and I've never seen the kind of cat you describe. Of course, the mosquitos out here may have carried them off. I'm within a mile of a wildlife preserve, 3 miles from a small zoo and 5 miles from a protected game range. Arbuckle Wilderness is about an hour drive (if that). We've got plenty of wildlife out here, but like everything else in Oklahoma, it doesn't get very big. I got up one morning to a herd of deer wandering through my back yard that I thought was a pack of large dogs at first glance. SMALL deer. I can't imagine a cat that size not being the talk of the tailgate parties at Thunderbird. Still, love to see it. May have to start taking longer walks off the beaten path. Need to bring a gun, though-for the mosquitos.

reply to post by gluetrap


Good posting Gluetrap. I've lived near Oklahoma City and Tulsa for a bit over ten years now. Currently in Tulsa. In our backyard and near our house in Spencer I've seen a few different critters too.

We've had a least a dozen different types of bird in our yard including a pair of roadrunners which visit the backwood each year. I've seen a few coyotes and one gray wolf as well. The most unusual was the spider monkey in the backwoods. I think it got out of a neighbor's trailer which is full of exotic animals anyway.

By the way, I believe Lion Country Safari was around Grapevine but had to closed down because the area flooded too much to be a safe home for the animals.

Keep up the good work.

[edit on 21-9-2007 by Sanity Lost]

I live near Dallas and if I saw that, I'd probably think it was just a bigger cat. If it doesn't want to live in south/central america, let it come this way. I wouldn't mind one as a pet...it's a cat so it can be trained and domesticated.

reply to post by gluetrap


Little late to this party, but there was/is a large black cat roaming the Red River area in central Love County. I saw it first from the bank on the Texas side in 98, then again crossing highway 96 headed towards the river in 99. Also know a few people in this area that have seen the same cat, even though people will say it doesn't exist.